Trees under stress - revealing inter- and intraspecific variation of heat and drought tolerance for climate-smart forest management in Europe

Climate change increases the frequency and severity of heatwaves and droughts, leading to reduced forest health and productivity.

Yet, our ability to predict productivity and stress across the landscape remains limited, partly because of incomplete understanding of intraspecific variation in tree traits.

A better understanding of the acclimation potential of tree species to drought and warming would improve adaptation of forest management to climate change.

The aim of this project is to predict the hydraulic and thermal risk of Swedish forests by resolving the physiological drivers of heat and drought tolerance, particularly regarding inter- and intraspecific variation and temporal acclimation. This multiscale project uses a European climatic gradient and selects four provenances of four tree species.

Saplings and mature trees are tested for their hydraulic traits and acclimation in laboratory, climate chambers and forest sites in Sweden, Germany and Switzerland, to resolve the link between and physiological drivers of drought and heat tolerance.

Then, the hydraulic risk of these species will be predicted with a hydraulic plant-soil model for different climate scenarios.

The outcomes of the project satisfy the need for characterization of intra-specific variation in predicting ecosystem vulnerability to climate change, serving climate-smart forestry and agriculture. The project will boost the applicant’s profile with new skills to develop her own research with a timely topic.